In a world where herbivore production in Europe is under threat, this interdisciplinary book, coordinated by the French Academy of Agriculture, demonstrates the reality and extent of the multifunctionality of pastures and discusses the political issues. Pastures make a substantial contribution to preserving soils, biodiversity, water quality and landscapes, to regulating hydrological regimes, and also to ensuring the quality of the dairy and meat products generated by herbivores. In this book, which is intended for a broad readership: decision-makers, territorial and agricultural development players, students and teachers, the authors demonstrate the ecological and economic performance of grassland systems and argue in favour of giving the quality of the products of such systems official recognition. They stress the importance of public territorial support policies in ensuring the economic viability of herbivore rearing; these policies need to recognize and reward the societal services rendered by such production systems.